Rebus puzzles. Dingbats. Wordplay. Call them whatever you want — they’re totally fun and addicting! Have you ever done a Rebus puzzle? They’ve been around for a long time — Rebus puzzles were popular during the 18th and 19th centuries. They were sometimes used as a code (some were written in such a way that

This post is continued from “Consonance and Dissonance (Part 3)“ Using Color Music, we can actually see the pattern of consonant and dissonant intervals. And without a doubt, the connection between complementary colors and tritones is awesome. But we can see even more. For example, check out the gradation bar below. It highlights exactly what’s

This post is continued from “Consonance and Dissonance (Part 1)“ In music, consonant and dissonant intervals are super-important. Because they tell us which notes sound good together … and which notes sound bad. Using plain, old scale degrees, we can kind of see what these intervals look like—check it out. We just rearrange the 12

Color Music is sweet because it reveals every note pattern in music. At a glance, each color tells us which note is which … and how they all relate. Like a powerful one-two punch, this color code gives us a big advantage in music. But the colors alone can’t do the job. Which is why

Topic: Make your own color wheel Supplies: One (1) copy of the color wheel kit PDF printout Six (6) colored pencils (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) One (1) regular pencil or pen Scissors One (1) paper clip (bigger is better, but any clip will work) Vocabulary: color wheel square primary colors secondary colors complementary

So, I’m kind of curious … what is your native language? These days, we have a lot of readers in different countries. Which means I’m guessing some of you speak English … or Spanish … or French … or German, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Italian … or one of many other languages out there. But the nice thing

The thing I like about Color Music is that it’s so simple. Using only a few pictures, it gives us a clear view of music. Just a couple of basic patterns … nothing complex like traditional notation. We can learn any song in a flash through a direct connection between our instruments and the notes on

The key to learning music is to understand note patterns first—then the language of a musician. That way, we can truly understand how to make music. No confusion or distractions with strange words or terminology. Just pure immersion into what music is really all about—simple patterns. And what’s nice is these patterns are super simple. So

Traditional music methods aren’t all bad. Mainly, because they give us a common vocabulary—a shared language that musicians can use to communicate. Over the centuries, music nerds have created all sorts of handy words to describe sound. So that when we talk about “tonics,” or “sharp-fives,” or “E-flat,” you know what I mean. The trouble is, traditional methods start with

When you think about it, building a song is fairly easy. We just repeat a few parts … and organize each section into a nice, logical order. Usually, our songs will have a couple of different melodies—like a verse and  chorus—that keep things moving forward. And together, these sections create a whole that is greater